Robert Jenrick wants to 'shame' fare-dodgers - where was this sense of duty from Tories in government?
Ooh, you’re hard Robert Jenrick - but you don’t know the Transport for London rules, writes Alexander Brown.
Robert Jenrick has been busy since the Tories were unceremoniously booted out of office for making us all poorer.
The man, who held numerous ministerial positions in government, now spends his time like a freshly cancelled celebrity - complaining about wokery and making social media videos.
This week the Conservative MP did so at a London tube station, confronting commuters for not paying, following them and shoving a camera in their faces, all in a desperate bid to smear London mayor Sadiq Khan. Having finished his Batman cosplay, the perennial Tory leadership contender then warned about society being chipped away at, citing crime, and, er, “weird Turkish barber shops”.
While rational onlookers can recognise this Alan Partridge-esque performance as a desperate attempt at attention - which he’s getting - there were also plaudits that despite the format, he was right. Pundits lined up to say only the right recognised issues with a divided society, and he was raising a salient point about social fracture.
Ignoring the fact that fare dodging in London has actually fallen, the notion that a Conservative minister in the last government has any authority on divisions in society is absolutely laughable.
Few have done more to break down society than ministers in the previous government, not least Mr Jenrick. Being barged by fare dodgers is annoying, but so is moral preaching from a vandaliser of the state.
If the failed party leadership candidate was so worried about society, why did he order the painting over of a mural at a children’s immigration centre? The Mickey Mouse and Baloo from The Jungle Book disappeared because they were "too welcoming" - an act that aims at othering people before they’ve even been formally welcomed into Britain.
Let’s not forget he also called for the arrest of anyone who said “Allahu Akbar” on the street, the Arabic phrase that means God is great. If Jenrick is so concerned about divisions in society, perhaps he should try to understand it before running after people who might not be able to afford an expensive transport system. That’s to say nothing of the Tories’ cuts to welfare, youth centres or the justice system. If you hollow out the support system, there might be a gap in society, yeah.
Finally there is the shame element of his argument, with the Tory MP saying it was about doing the right thing.
Where was this sense of morality when he unlawfully intervened in a planning decision involving a billionaire Conservative party donor? Or getting donations totalling £75,000 from a firm that was loaned money via a tax haven?
Or when the Conservative Party’s biggest donor told colleagues that looking at veteran Labour figure Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and said the MP “should be shot”? Or the whole of Partygate.
This might be clever politics, but it’s completely shameless, and ignores the role Jenrick has played in creating a hostile environment, in pushing people below the bread line. It’s not about doing the right thing, it’s a proxy campaign for the leadership and, perhaps without ministerial responsibility, something to kill the time.
By the way, Jenrick had himself been breaking Transport for London rules by filming without authorisation. If you’re going to complain about divisions in society, maybe do the reading and look in a mirror first.
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